Boris Johnson launches £85m fund to lift London’s tech start-ups
The Mayor of London has launched an investment fund which will make up to £85m available to the capital's most exciting science, technology and digital start-ups.
Boris Johnson has pledged an initial £25m towards the London Co-Investment Fund, which will help new businesses looking for a cash injection between £250,000 and £1m.
The fund, which hopes to make its first investment in January, will give funding to more than 150 start-ups and deliver up to 2,600 new jobs over the next three years. Applicants need to show they can create jobs and generate returns of ten times the initial investment.
It will also receive £60m from six partners — Wellington Partners, Playfair Capital, London Business Angels, Angel Lab, Firestartr and Crowdcube/Braveheart Consortium — which were whittled down from 38 candidates.
Boris Johnson said:
London’s tech sector is flourishing and the city is a hotbed of talented young and ambitious people buzzing with exciting ideas who are setting up new companies in their droves.
Despite this boom, we know that many budding start-ups find it difficult to raise the finance they need to grow.
This new fund will ensure the tech-giants of the future can get the support they need to bring their ideas to reality and deliver jobs and growth for the capital.